Dann cooperated ... a little

Tuesday

Dec 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2008 at 11:59 AM

Despite his concerns that the state inspector general was out to get him, former Attorney General Marc Dann did cooperate in the inspector's investigation of his 17 months in office -- but only a little.

Despite his concerns that the state inspector general was out to get him, former Attorney General Marc Dann did cooperate in the inspector's investigation of his 17 months in office -- but only a little.

Dann, who resigned as Ohio's top lawyer in May amid a mushrooming scandal in his office, refused to sit down with aides to Inspector General Thomas P. Charles as they investigated questionable hiring, abuse of campaign funds and other improprieties during Dann's term.

Dann's lawyer, David Betras, sent a five-page letter to the inspector general's office in November saying that Dann would not consent to an interview but would try to provide information if requested.

The inspector general released the correspondence with Betras today under a public-records request.

"Asking someone to sit for an interview, under oath, more than six months after leaving office and without access to any of the documents or files that might be discussed, is not fair," Betras wrote.

Betras is a close friend and former law partner of Dann's.

Betras went on to issue a strong, if sometimes vague, defense of Dann's time in office.

He wrote that staffers in Dann's office "operated at an extremely high level of professionalism," that Dann "only used state resources for state purposes," and that Dann "complied with state ethics laws at all times."

The inspector general's office came to opposite conclusions in a report issued last week.

In its response to Betras' letter, the inspector general's office said it was not interested in a "series of question and answer sessions through either email or other written correspendence."

At that point, negotiations between the inspector general's office and the Dann camp ceased.